®Planning appeal decision
Light Industrial Unit (Disused), Land Adjacent to Pebble Court Farm, Woodgate Lane, Borden, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME9 7QB
Planning appeal 3367384 at Light Industrial Unit (Disused), Land Adjacent to Pebble Court Farm, Woodgate Lane, Borden, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME9 7QB (Swale Borough Council) was dismissed on 22 October 2025 by Inspector Pearce J, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: whether the site is a suitable location for housing, with regard to development plan policies and accessibility to services and facilities, including the effect of the proposed development on the supply of rural employment sites in the Borough.
the conversion and change of use of existing and dilapidated detached disused former light industrial workshop into a three bedroom dwelling (C3) and conversion and change of use of existing adjacent detached former associated office and store (previously hay barn) currently disused into a home office to be used for the dwelling occupier. Proposals include part demolition of existing commercial dilapidated workshop and installation of a sewage treatment plant and EV charging point
- Authority
- Swale Borough Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Change of use
- Inspector
- Pearce J
- Postcode
- ME9 7QB
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- whether the site is a suitable location for housing, with regard to development plan policies and accessibility to services and facilities, including the effect of the proposed development on the supply of rural employment sites in the Borough
What decided it
The site is not a suitable location for housing due to its rural location outside settlement boundaries, poor accessibility to services and facilities by sustainable transport, and the failure to adequately demonstrate that the building has no viable demand for rural employment use.
The benefits of delivering a single dwelling on previously developed land and the contribution to housing supply were outweighed by the adverse impacts of locating housing in an unsuitable rural location with poor accessibility and the harm to the supply of rural employment sites, such that the adverse impacts significantly and demonstrably outweighed the benefits under NPPF paragraph 11(d).
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy ST1Policy ST3Policy DM3
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 125Paragraph 11
How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.
See how each was appliedThe decision letter
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With an account
What an account adds to this decision
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The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.